When to Fire Your Client

by Donna Doyle

Beginning copywriters are often so thrilled to get a new project that they assume they’ll be paid when it’s all over. And 90% of the time, they do.

It’s the other 10% of the time you have to worry about!

I’m happy to report that the vast majority of my clients are ethical and honest. I even consider a couple of them friends. But believe me, it wasn’t always that way. In fact, I was burned by clients many, many times in my freelance career—mistakes, I’ll assure you, will never happen again.

Dealing with difficult clients is never, ever easy. I’ve worked on many projects when what I call the “torture line item” just got too high. In other words, the time, energy and effort involved trying to please a client who is never happy just wasn’t worth the fee I was being paid.

One way to guard against this to make sure you have a signed agreement before you start your project. This agreement should state exactly what the job entails, the fee, what you will do for that fee, and the estimated deadline. You should also ask for 50% up front before beginning an assignment, too. After all, some writing assignments can take several months before you get the final nod of approval. And you do have to eat in the meantime!

Difficult clients are a drain on your business – and, most importantly – on your morale. The idea is to spot them early, before you agree to any writing assignments. At least you’ll be able to make an educated decision about whether you want to move forward or not.

Run really fast if a potential client says…

1. “Write us a article/brochure/direct response package on spec, and if we use it we’ll pay you.”

This means they’ll change a headline or two, use it – and not tell you about it! Some clients will even make some minor revisions in the text and claim that it’s a totally new package! It doesn’t happen often…but it happens.

Think about all those lost hours when you could have real, paying clients to write for. At least if they paid you something for your time, it wouldn’t be so bad. But on ‘spec’? Why take the chance?

2. “We can’t afford to pay a fee, but you’ll get a royalty every time someone clicks on your article.”

At 10¢ a click? Or .02 a piece? You can’t make a living that way. And do they really get all the web traffic they claim? Or, if it's a direct mail piece, how sure are you that the package mailed?
Or mailed as many pieces as they say?

In cases like these, too much control is out of the writer's hands and in the client's hand. Call me jaded, but I'm not one to trust clients. Too many unsavory people are out there, waiting to take advantage of writers. Stay away.

3. “Reduce your fee ‘just this once,’ because there’s a lot more work we want to give you down the line."

Don’t EVER believe that one! If I had a dime for every potential client that said that to me, I’d be a very rich woman right now. This is just a way to get you cheap. If you do get another project, they’ll pay you the same low fee – this time it will be due to “budget problems.” If you decide to stick up for yourself and demand more money, they’ll most likely pull the assignment. But they’ll have grudging respect for you, believe me.

4. “We’re a small business, our budget is limited, and we’ve never done [direct response, space ads, press releases – fill in the blank.]"

Look—it’s perfectly fine to do writing assignments with a small company. It’s the small companies that help you land the bigger assignments and we all have to start somewhere. However, if they’ve never done any advertising or publicity at all and don't understand the value of good copy, chances are these people will take up too much of your time and pay you too little for it. Think twice before jumping in this pool.

5. “I write killer copy myself, but now I don’t have the time. What can you do for me?”

Beware! Clients like these will never be happy with your work and they’ll resent having to pay you a decent fee, too. This is a sure sign of a micro-manager who probably drives all his employees crazy. Don’t go there!

6. You handed in your first draft a month ago—but your client has been ""too busy" to give it a look.

Don’t you love people with regular paychecks? They get their salary no matter what, so they don’t think about a freelancer’s cash flow. If you haven’t received any feedback from a client
within 21 days after submission, send them an invoice. That’s usually the best way to spur them into action, one way or another!

And next time you can mention that they need to give you a 50% deposit up front, 25% upon submission of first draft (they send you the next installment via PayPal, you email the draft),
and balance upon approval or 21 days after submission of revisions, whichever comes first.

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Reprinted by permission from Donna Lynn Doyle. Direct Response copywriter Donna Doyle has created results-driven copy for some of the largest direct marketing companies and publishers throughout the U.S. and Canada. Named "2006 Copywriter of the Year" by the American Writers and Artists Institute (AWAI), she is also a Partner of 3Chix, (http://www.3chix.com) , a seminar and information publishing company targeted to the career success of freelance
writers. Donna is also a sought-after copywriting coach. Sign up for her Free ezine, The Inside Track, at http://www.copybydoyle.com.